ELS AH HISTORY

NUMBER 40 ELSAH HISTORY SUMMER 1982

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ARTISTS IN ELSAH

by Charles Hosmer Jr

of the many important functions performed artists in our society is the task of showing all of is really around. They open new viaws --

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"Elsah History" is published by Historic Elsah Foundation, ^(ji_

Charles B. Hosmer Jr. Editor. Subscription is with membership. f%^}i

;-^-jj Regular membership is $5.00; sustaining membership is $10.00 ^jKi^

~^^^' or more. Send to P .0. Box 117, Elsah, Illinois 52028 . ^'*

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ELSAH HISTORY

Summer 1982

windows on the world . We have been especially for- tunate in the village of Elsah to have resident artists interpreting our community for over eighty years, beginning with the American Impressionist painter Frederick Oakes Sylvester.

In the space of a few days it is possible to inter- view five artists who now live and work in Elsah . Four of them have been members of the Principia Col- lege Art Department, and Blanche Darnell, the fifth artist, was an art major at Principia. James Green has worked in the Elsah area for forty years, and James Schmidt has been here for thirty years. Glenn Felch and Judy McCreary Felch have studied Elsah for nearly twenty years, both as art students and as col- lege faculty members. Blanche Darnell came to the village thirty-five years ago as a student, but she and her husband Ray have lived in the community for seven years now.

All of the artists interviewed have painted or sketched in either Europe, Asia or other parts of the United States. Several of them regularly visit places that are quite different from Elsah, ranging from the coast of Maine to the valleys of northern California. Even with these experiences, our local artists all love to come back to the village. Jim Schmidt finds the outlines of Elsah are sharper than those of the typical English village. He misses the central church tower that dominates rural communities in Britain, although the cupola of the Bradley house helps to provide a central focus here. Blanche Darnell notices the lush green atmosphere of the Elsah summer when she re- turns from a visit to California. Judy Felch immedi- ately notices Elsah's miniature scale when she returns from Maine. The village is a small enclosed space where an individual can "cope with things." Jim

Green, who has traveled more than any of the other artists, finds himself increasingly satisfied with the variety of motifs in Elsah. As he sees it, "If you're a painter, you can go anywhere you want to go here in the village." Although Europe is romantic and steeped in historical tradition, Elsah has a warmth and friend- liness and an intimate scale that permits individual development for artists .

What have these artists found in Elsah through their experiences as teachers and observers of the village scene? They each have favorite scenes or as- pects of the townscape. Jim Green and Glenn Felch tend to be more architectural in their viewpoint. Using an image from Rockport, Massachusetts, Jim finds the corner of Alpa and Mill Streets, looking toward the Lazenby house, to be Elsah's Motif #1. He has always favored the Keller store and the buildings along LaSalle Street as well. His current interest in town is a study of picket fences and chimneys . Glenn also has been a close student of the various architec- tural details in Elsah buildings that speak of a roman- tic past. His interest has also included people who seem to symbolize the spirit of the town, but many of those he first knew in the 1960's are no longer here. Walter and Grace Cresswell, along with Lucy McDow, remain in Glenn's memory as a living part of the Elsah that he knew as a student. Glenn Felch agrees with Jim Green that this little town provides "all that a painter needs." There are especially romantic sur- vivals like the Keller barn and the McDow house that still give us a feeling of timelessness without heavy restoration.

In contrast to the architectural approach, Jim Schmidt finds the valley a perfect "curtain" for the scenes he likes to record . Within the confines of the

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SUMMER 1982

Two Views of the Mississippi River

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The Delta Queen at the entrance to Elsah Cover Photo: Summer Flowers - Ned Bradley

Glenn Felch

Deer feeding

Hannah Haslam

Pickett-plav

Donna Burnett

(Note: All the photos on these pages were submitted for the 1982 "Spring Photo Festival. Nearly 50 photos have been on exhibit in the Historic Elsah visitors Center and Gallery.)

Two different aspects of Elsah's quietude

Ned Bradley

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Rhodes End Antiques (Riverview)

Larry Groce

Elsah fog

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Inge Mack

spire of the Methodist Church

Paul Williams

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hollow Elsah has a great variation in heights and sizes of outbuildings. For Jim the views must con-

tain people: children playing near Earl's Cottage, someone running down the front hill on Maple Street, children and adults on the playground next to the old school. Jim Schmidt defines his approach as "slightly cubist," and this view of Elsah permits him to make composite views of buildings in the town .

Judy Felch and Blanche Darnell are most inter- ested in the atmosphere of the village. Judy likes to watch people working in their gardens; she notices the pattern of laundry swinging in the wind . Blanche and Judy share an interest in Elsah gardens, although Judy prefers the m.ore informal vegetable plots. Blanche did a series of Elsah interiors that involved window views of trees and gardens . She has also left another art form in the village through her garden plans . In addition to her own yard at Mill and Maple Streets, Blanche has made substantial contributions to the stone walls and plantings at the Christian Science Church and a number of homes (Felch, Lanigan and Lazenby in particular) .

All of the Elsah artists have had to face the in- evitability of change in the village scene. Blanche Darnell, as a practicing landscape designer, has con- tributed to some of these improvements. Glenn Felch yearns for the Elsah of the turn of the century, but he consoles himself with a concentration on the build- ings that have experienced a minimum of change. While Blanche enjoys answering the questions posed by visitors who see her working in her garden, art teachers like Jim Schmidt and the Felches find it dif- ficult to conduct demonstration sessions for their stu- dents when the afternoon traffic builds up on week- day afternoons and weekends. Each of the artists

interviewed believed that the village is a perfect lab- oratory for teaching because of its simplicity, charm and nearness to the Principia campus.

These artists are a very important element in our town because they are sensitive to the aspects of village life that should be treasured. At the same time these perceptive individuals are among the first to realize the importance of wisdom and care in facing the problems of the future. Elsah residents could indeed fail to appreciate the things that have made it unique. The local artists would be saddened to see the town become too "cute" in an effort to re-capture a past that never existed . They would be equally disappointed to see the village serve as a major center for tourism. As we look at the paintings and drawings produced by Elsah artists we should be sure we are listening to the message they are sending us: Treasure what we have.

FOOTNOTE:

Those who have lived in Elsah over the years have noted artists from all over this area and the world setting up their easels and working to capture the essence of this village. It has not been uncommon in recent years for art clubs and societies from St. Louis and as far north as Springfield, Illinois, to spend a day or more unleashing their artistic fervor on the endless subject matter which Elsah offers . One group, under the direction of former St. Louis artist Nikki Botker, used to spend several days in

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The drawings pictured below this article are reduced from the prints which Historic Elsah has been offering in exchange for a donation of $20. 00 or more and in specific request for the prints. This offer will expire in this format on January 1, 1983.

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the village while staying at the Maple Leaf Cottages.

When asking these folks what it is about Elsah which attracts them, the answers are not unlike those interviewed for this issue. "There's no place like it for charm and quiet." "It reminds me of quaint New England or European villages -- it's almost like someone designed the village just for us!" "There's an honesty about the place, -- one doesn't feel put on about it." "Who can sit here and not feel the lore of the River surrounding them — it helps my paintings immensely to think that maybe Mark Twain might walk by any minute now. " "I can work twelve hours straight in this little village, and leave for home more refreshed than when I work a six-hour day in my office . "

We hope artists will continue to enjoy Elsah's beauty and to record their feelings with pencil, paint, and paper. Perhaps it is appropriate to reprint a poem by Elsah's most famous artist, Frederick Ockes Sylvester. It seems especially poignant as it highlights the quiet known by Sylvester compared to the "quiet" known by today's artists, which includes endless cars and ever-increasing barge traffic. All is relative!

ELSAH

NOW ye the hills of Elsah That range by the river's side, Where quaint, old-fashioned

houses Behind the fir trees hide?

Know ye the vales of Elsah That run from the water's edge, With shady pathways leading Upward to cliff and ledge?

J Know ye the life of Elsah,

Elsah asleep by the stream,

With trembling lips that murmur

The World's name in her dream?

Time was — when the years were younger- That Elsah was half a bride. And the World, that is ever a bridegroom, Lingered and sang at her side.

But the song that thrilled her bosom And the rose that graced her hair Are things of the past, forgotten By the singer who placed them there.

CHRISTMAS WALK Thursday- December 16th

This year Historic Elsah is repeating its well received "Christmas Walk" of several years ago. We are sponsoring this walk through Village homes for residents of Elsah -- not just Historic Elsah mem- bers.

The walk will be on December 16th from 6: 30 to 9: 30. A refreshment/entertainment break will con- vene in the Village Hall at approximately 7: 30 p.m.

If you would like to have your home included in this walk, contact Jeri Hosmer (374-2608) who is preparing an orderly plan for the sequence of homes to be open.

There is no charge for the event; rather a solely festive occasion when homes decorated for the holidays reveal Elsah at its yuletide best.

Details of the walk (maps etc . distributed closer to the time.

will be posted and

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS

Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Hansell, Des Moines, Iowa Mr. and Mrs. E.R. Slaughter Jr . , Dallas, Texas Carl Yeakel, Laguna Beach, California Mr. and Mrs. David Pfeifer, Elsah, Illinois Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Bible, East Alton, Illinois